SA Sound

Punk Rock Powerhouse Downtown Boys Return to SA

With feel-good punk rock that makes you want to bust out your skateboard and scream “Fuck yeah!,” Providence, Rhode Island’s Downtown Boys blend old-school hardcore, a bit of ska and a pinch of post-hardcore for a sound that’s smart and just fucking good.

The quintet just released their latest album Lips That Bite earlier this month. The opening track “A Wall” is slightly reminiscent of ’70s proto-punk band Death (listen to “Let The World Turn” and you’ll see what I mean). In 2015, Spin magazine said this about the band: “Bravely combating, as their press release reads, ‘the prison-industrial complex, racism, queerphobia, capitalism, fascism, boredom, and all things people use to try to close our minds, eyes and hearts,’ Downtown Boys do what their finest punk-rock forefathers did before them: challenge long-held ideas, and throw you in the pit when things get too heavy.”

And if you were at Paper Tiger’s Heatwave 2 back in March, where a slew of punk rock bands including Downtown Boys were in attendance, you definitely would agree that these folks are keeping the magic of punk rock alive.